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Demo #4 Results

Demo #4 Results
September 3, 2004 -- After a week delay due to rain, the final A-Reliable ?Tournament of Destruction? at Route 66 Raceway is now history. America?s original ?Team Demolition Derby? has a new champion and a new found respect as record crowds attend this years four events. The news media stepped up to add greater exposure to the sport. Speed Channel also came out and taped this September 3rd event and the July 31st event. It was a spectacular demo derby as the eight teams raced for the largest payout ever.
In round one of race one, Stranglehold took on Team Xtreme. At the drop of the green flag from starter Sheryl LaPorte, it was Jason Kloeckner who would lead the first three laps with Chris McGuire of Stranglehold all over him. McGuire missed some great opportunities to take out Kloeckner lap after lap. Following close behind was ?Big Kahuna? Garrett Vanderbilt running a solid second. Early into the fourth lap McGuire finally was able to spin out Kloeckner who was still leading, this allowed Vanderbilt to take over the lead and finish the last lap unscathed. By doing this Stranglehold move into the semi-final round.
The second race of round one found Orange Crush and Damage Inc. looking for long awaited wins, Andrew Quagliano of Damage Inc. lead the first lap but on his second lap he took a heavy head-on hit. Ron ?Iron Man? Tyrakowski then took up the lead until he was stopped cold before he could complete his second trip around the track. Number 80 Ron Johnston of Damage Inc. would then take over the lead to finish out the last four laps and put Damage Inc. into the semi-final round.
Race three of round one brought the very strong teams of Havoc and The Junk Yard Dogs head to head. At the start the top six cars of the starting eight made it though turn two with # 47 Tim Day the leader. He took a hard front-end hit to end his lead. The #43 Havoc car driven by Elmer Fandrey took over the lead and with Carl Brower in the Havoc #49 car in tow. They would complete the first lap running one-two with the #37 car of Chris ?Ludacris? Cruver third. ?Sarge? Turnbaugh and Rob McKay were running fourth and fifth for The Junk Yard Dogs. On the back straight Brower took a punishing sidewinder hit that nailed him to the wall leaving Fandrey out front by himself. Curver was tight on his back bumper. At the same time Ed ?Booger? Walker slammed into the first turn wall bursting into flames, starter Sheryl LaPorte through the red flag to stop the race. When a short green flag was given to the field, Cruver came out the leader. After a fireman was still working on Walker?s car, the green flag which was out for a period of 29 seconds was once again back under the red flag. At this point, Curver was now leading with two laps and Havoc?s #49 car driven by Brower was second. It was decided by the TDA scoring officials before the green came back out that McKay did not get two laps because he did not yield under the red flag. As the green was shown once more Cruver raced to take the white flag with Havoc?s Brower in pursuit. Midway though the first turn Cruver was slowed down and blocked by a Havoc car giving Brower a hole wide enough to drive though and take the lead. He would finish out the lap to place Havoc in the semi-final round.
In the final race of round one, the newly crowned National Champions Locomotives took on Road Rage who beat them twice before. You knew this race would be full of emotion that would be turned into pure adrenaline. At the sight of the green flag the first six cars jammed up in turn one. The remaining two rear cars started across the infield. Steve Scarbro in the #1 car for Road Rage broke loose from the pack and headed down the back straight as the leader. He was followed by one Locomotive who was soon dispensed with a head-on blast. Scarbro dodged an attack in turn three to pick up his first lap but was then hit hard and spun around in the first turn by Loco?s Pete Ryan. Running second was another Loco about to finish his first lap when a member of Road Rage wiped him out with a hard hit. The Loco?s got sloppy when two of them tried to hold Scarbro back, but he was able to push his way free only to be hit and stopped again for good. After that hit there was only one car running and it was the # 11 Road Rage car of Robby Stahulak. He went on to complete the four laps untouched and unchallenged. As Stahulak took the white flag with one lap to go ?Sneaky? Pete Ryan fired up his car and took aim at the leader but missed. Ryan then spun the car around and met Stahulak in the final turn and was stopped in his tracks. Now all of the cars were still and no one was running, but Stahulak had the most laps. After a brief period, the spectators started to count down the last ten seconds to end the race. After the count down ended, Road Rage were rewarded with their first win of the season over the Locomotives.
The consolation race for the non-winning teams pays an extra thousand dollars and a point toward the point totals. All four of the non-winning teams showed up for the race. With twelve cars in the event it was more like a stock race then a demo derby. The fans loved it as all the teams thundered down into the first two turns. As cars scrambled everywhere, Team Xtreme?s Jason Kloeckner dodged one bullet after another to lead the first three laps with Mark Ziesmer running second. Both of these drivers would feel the wrath of others as they were slammed on and jammed out of contention. ?Sneaky? Pete Ryan who had been running a distant third was now in line to win. He needed to get in two laps and hope that Ziesmer of the Dogs wouldn?t restart. Ryan?s wish came through and threaded the needle though slower running cars to complete the five laps to win the consolation race. After Ryan received the checkered flag and unfortunately continued around the track to take a cheap shot and physically attack Ziesmer. So far no one have been able to give us an answer, not even Peter ?Ryan? Brossard.
The first semi saw Stranglehold and Damage Inc. get off to a start that would allow the Damage Inc. # 80 car driven by Ron Johnson to bolt out into a bid lead and lead the first lap. Stranglehold?s (Big Kahuna) Garrett Vanderbilt caught Johnson on the back straight and spun him around to clam the lead. Vanderbilt never let go of the top spot and took the checkered flag with only a few incidents behind him. Stranglehold was headed to the finals for the first time this year.
The second semi brought the defending world champions Road Rage up against Havoc. At the start, Tim Day in the #47 Havoc car along with Carl Brower and Danny Ketellar completed lap one running 1-2-3 for Havoc. Just across the starting line Day met head on with Steve Scarbro. Day would slowly roll away and return to the high level action. Now it was Havoc?s #49 Carl Brower who took the lead as Road Rage was down to just two running cars. Brower managed to get in only one more lap before Road Rage slammed him into the third wall and pinned him to the tire barrier. It was now up to Ketelaar to get the job done and for two laps he did. But Brower dug himself out of trouble and got back into second place. As Ketellar took the white flag and headed down the back straight he was confronted with a hard hit from Bob ?Lugs? Bartlaga. The lead bounced back to the #49 Havoc car driven by Brower who would finish the lap to move his team into the finals.
The finals found the drivers charged with emotion and pumped full of adrenaline. Stranglehold was looking for their first win; Havoc was looking for the record payout. As starter Sheryl LaPorte waved the green flag it turned into mayhem in the first two turns. After sorting themselves out Elmer Fandery found himself as the leader and being push backwards all the way around the track to take the first lap in reverse. #57 Vanderbilt was second for Stranglehold with #44 Rich Wilson running in third for Havoc. The leaders bashed their way into another maze of metal in turn one. The first one to break free was Vanderbilt, but his lead did not last for long as a more powerful car of Elmer Fandery would pass and block Vanderbilt. Rich Wilson also entered the fray as these three cars completed their second lap together. For the third time the leaders tangled in the first turn, but Vanderbilt broke away first and headed for the start/finish line. This time he would not be denied as he led the third lap and took the white flag on lap four. Havoc?s Rich Wilson was a good ten car lengths behind. Vanderbilt led all the way around until the final turn. A Havoc car was waiting for him and forced Vanderbilt to slip and make a mistake for Rich Wilson to drive by and take the lead and the win.
Final Point Standings for 2004
Locomotives ? (33)
Havoc ? (21)
Road Rage ? (18)
Stranglehold ? (16)
Team Xtreme ? (12) Tie Breaker Fastest Times (2:40)
Damage Inc. ? (12) (2:48)
Junk Yard Dogs ? (12) (3:34)
Orange Crush ? (8)
Results courtesy of Team Demo Association